What is the map pack?

1. Someone searches for a service with local intent, or Google infers it from their location.
2. Google finds Business Profiles that match the search (relevance), using categories, services and other profile details.
3. It weighs how far each business is from the searcher, or from the place named in the search (distance).
4. It weighs how well known each business is (prominence), which Google says includes review count and score and information from across the web, such as links, articles and directories.
5. The top results show in the pack; “More places” opens the full list in Maps.

Google describes these factors in its guide to improving your local ranking, and says there is no way to request or pay for a better local ranking.

Organic results below the pack are web pages, ranked mainly on the page itself. The map pack lists businesses and is driven by the Business Profile. Local Services Ads, when they show, sit above both and are paid per lead. A local business can appear in all three for the same search, and each one needs the same phone number answered.

Appearing in the map pack is free, and Google says you can’t pay for a better local ranking. The cost is the work behind it: a complete profile, a steady flow of reviews, consistent listings and a website that supports the services you list. Found covers that work from $249 a month ($499 for law firms), month-to-month, with no build fee at the base tier. See pricing.

Found works on the parts a business can influence: the profile’s categories, services and photos, weekly posts and review replies; a review request after every job; one consistent name, address and phone across Apple, Bing, Yelp, Nextdoor and Angi; and a website built for your trade. Distance is the one factor nobody can change, which is why no honest provider can guarantee a map pack position. See Google Business Profile management.